The Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games has opened at Beijing’s National Stadium with a colourful celebration of diversity, inclusion and calls for peace.
Just before the President of China Xi Jinping declared the Games officially open, International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons delivered a speech in which he pleaded for the troubles the world now faces through the Russia-Ukraine conflict to be solved with diplomacy, not war.
“Tonight, I want to begin with a message of peace,” Parsons said.
“As the leader of an organisation with inclusion at its core, where diversity is celebrated and differences embraced, I am horrified at what is taking place in the world right now.
“The 21st Century is a time for dialogue and diplomacy, not war and hate.”
Parsons outlined that the Olympic Truce during Olympic and Paralympic Games is a UN Resolution that had been adopted by consensus by 193 Member States at the 76th UN General Assembly.
“It must be respected and observed not violated,” he said.
“At the IPC we aspire to a better and more inclusive world, free from discrimination, free from hate, free from ignorance and free from conflict.
“Here in Beijing, Paralympic athletes from 46 different nations will compete with each other, not against each other. Through sport they will showcase the best of humanity and highlight the values that should underpin a peaceful and inclusive world.
“Paralympians know that an opponent does not have to be an enemy and that united we can achieve more, much more.
“Tonight, the Paralympic Movement calls on world authorities to come together, as athletes do, and promote peace, understanding and inclusion. The world must be a place for sharing, not dividing.”
The Games open amid a backdrop of Russian and Belarusian athletes having been refused entry to compete.
Earlier, Ukraine’s 39-member team was led out by PyeongChang cross country sit skiing gold medallist Maksym Yarovyi. It was the culmination of a remarkable ordeal for the team members to get to China to take part.
In a press conference in Beijing on Thursday, Valerii Sushkevych, the president of NPC Ukraine, said: “We overcame a lot of barriers on the way. Many members of our team had to escape while there was bombardment and shells exploding.”
He later added: “You know that Ukraine is one of the world leaders when it comes to the Paralympic movement and each and every one of us in the movement understood that if Ukraine is absent here at the Paralympic Games, that would signify that there is no more Ukrainian world, that it ceased to exist if it were not represented here at the Games, if we did not have a chance to participate at this global level.”
Some time after Ukraine’s entry to the stadium, according to the order of the Mandarin alphabet, Australia’s team was led out by flagbearers and four-time Paralympians Mitchell Gourley and Melissa Perrine, followed by team members Rae Anderson, Josh Hanlon and Bobbi Kelly and some team staff.
Athletes competing in the downhill events on Saturday – Sam Tait, Patrick Jensen and Amelia Hodgson – didn’t march, as was the case with Para-snowboarder Ben Tudhope, who is staying at the Paralympic Village at Zhangjiakou.
Gourley will back up to compete in the downhill on Saturday.
